Red Sky at Morning S3 Ep7
by Bad Day at Black Rock
Summary: Bela teams up to find the remains of a sailor whose spirit is drowning victims on land. But is she getting too close for comfort?
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: These fics are based on real episodes from Supernatural. The characters and plots belong to the creator and writers for the show. If you want background on the new character you can read the previous episodes.

Red Sky at Morning

Dean had been eyeing Sam for the last fifty miles. Something had happened and he wanted to know what the hell it was. No, scratch that, he _knew_ what had happened and was pissed as hell about it. That idiot went to the crossroads demon, knowing full well he could have been killed then and there. What the hell was the point of saving his brother if he was going to go all suicidal on him?

"Is there something you wanna tell me Sam?"

He looked at him, completely innocent. No wonder everyone trusted the kid. "It's not your birthday…"

"No."

"Um…Happy Purim?" He laughed. "Dude I don't know."

"There's a bullet missing from the colt. Wanna tell me how that happened?"

Kayla glanced up from the back seat, she had wondered how long it would take him to figure it out.

Sam shrugged.

"Well it wasn't me, and Kayla's been with me so unless you've been shooting at some incredibly evil cans…"

"Dean."

"You went after her didn't you? The crossroads demon, after I told you not to!"

"Yeah, well." He wasn't making any apologies.

"You could have gotten yourself killed, and you shot her!"

"She was a smart ass."

"So what, does that mean I'm out of my deal?"

"Don't you think I would have mentioned that? Someone else holds the contract."

"Who?"

"She wouldn't say."

Dean nodded, despite his anger it did send a flash of hope. It was information, no matter how obscure it was now it was something. "Well we should find out." He paused. "Of course our best lead would be the crossroads demon, oh, wait…"

"That's not funny."

"No, it's not. It was a stupid freaking risk and you shouldn't have done it."

"I shouldn't have done it? You're my brother Dean, no matter what you do I'm gonna try to save you. And I'm sure as hell not gonna apologize for it, alright?"

Dean griped the steering wheel. This was not letting it go. This was definitely not letting things lay the way they were. Damn it Sam. What the hell was he going to do with him?

"Kayla you gotta help me keep a leash on him." He adjusted the rearview mirror to look at her. When she didn't say anything he threw his hands up. "You knew about this didn't you? For Christ's sake you two!"

"We're just trying to help."

"Well knock it off!"

"You can keep saying it, it's still not gonna happen." She pulled out her headphones. "We're gonna get you out of this deal Dean, one way or another."


	2. Chapter 2

The new job sprung up when an old woman found her daughter "drowned" in the shower. One main question would be how exactly someone drowns in the shower, and another being whether or not the ghost ship the woman saw before her death had anything to do with it. She had told her mother about a large ship she'd seen off the docks that had vanished before her eyes. Within hours she was dead.

They interviewed the mother as representatives from the Sheriff's Department. She was not only cooperative, she was downright rogue. The proper term was cougar. It took everything in Dean and Kayla not to bust out laughing when that woman stroked Sam's finger after the interview. Damn. They were still laughing about it.

"What a crazy old broad." Dean shook his head.

"Why, because she believes in ghosts?"

"Look at you, sticking up for your girlfriend you cougar hound. That's so sweet, isn't that sweet?"

Kayla smiled. "It's really sweet. You'd be younger than your step-grandkids wouldn't you?"

"Bite me."

She laughed. "So who's this Alex the lady said she was working with? Another hunter?"

"Maybe, we still gotta look into it." Sam said. "The ghost ship she mentioned wasn't the first in the area either. Every thirty seven years there's reports of a vanishing three-mast clipper ship out in the bay. The sightings are followed up by a rash of dry land drownings."

Dean took it in. "So this is just getting started." He glanced to Kayla in her professional detective garb, loved the skirt. "What's the lore?"

"Depends on where you look. Apparitions of old wrecks are seen all over the world. The S.S. Violet, the Griffon…"

"The Flying Dutchman."

Dean rolled his eyes. "This is reality, not Pirates of the Caribbean."

"No," Sam argued. "The Flying Dutchman is a real ship." He laughed when Kayla made a face. "Almost all the ships are death omens."

"So you see them and a couple hours later you pucker up and kiss your ass goodbye?" Dean stood at the curb. "Isn't this where we parked the car?"

"I thought so." Sam looked around, the Impala was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's my car?"

"Did you feed the meter?"

"Yes I fed the meter, Sam where's my car? Somebody stole my car!" He shouted. This was unbelievable. Who in their right mind would take the Impala? More importantly, what were they doing with his baby?

"Hey, calm down."

"I am calmed down! Somebody stole my…" He stopped to breath and put his hands on his knees.

"Dean." Kayla went over to him. "It's ok, take a breath." Was he seriously going to act like this? How was she supposed to not laugh?

"'67 Impala?" Bella approached them. "I had that car towed."

"What?!"

"Well it was in a tow away zone."

"No it wasn't!"

She smirked just slightly. "It was when I got through with it."

"What the hell are you even doing here?"

Kayla fought back a smile and glanced behind them to keep from laughing. Enemy or no enemy it _was_ funny. Poor Dean.

"You're Alex." Sam looked at her. "You're working with that old lady."

"Gert's a dear old friend. Just like all my other dear old friends along the coast. I sell them charms, perform séances so they can communicate with their dead cats…"

"And it's all a scam, none of its real."

"The comfort I provide is very real."

Sam stared her down. "How do you sleep at night?"

"On silk sheets, rolling naked in money." She sighed. "Honestly I expect the attitude from him but you Sam?"

"You shot me!"

"I barely grazed you!" She looked at Kayla. "Cute, but a bit of a drama queen yeah? Thanks for telling her the case wasn't solved by the way. Now she wants real answers. Stay out of my way before you mess anything else up. Oh, and I would go get that car before they find the arsenal in the trunk."

Dean grit his teeth as she walked away. "Can I shoot her?"

"Not in public."


	3. Chapter 3

The following morning they drove to location when they heard about another death. A man apparently drowned in his bathtub the night before. When they arrived, the place was crawling with cops and press alike. The guys groaned when they saw the 'reporter' that was interviewing the victim's brother. Bella.

"I'll take care of it guys no problem." Kayla was already out of the car.

Dean grinned. "Chick fight." He went to catch up with her.

She walked purposefully across the street and up to Bella, shoving a fake ID into her face. "Are you kidding me right now? This man has just lost a close family member and you're going to bombard him with questions for the five o'clock story? Get out of here."

Bella looked at her a moment, throw off. "I just have a few more questions."

"No, you don't." Dean stepped up beside her.

"Well then." She smiled flatly to the man. "Thank you for your time." As she walked away she turned to stare them down.

Kayla turned her attention to him. "I'm so sorry sir, these _vultures _just hover around without a conscious, looking for their next meal ticket." Out of the corner of her eye she caught Bella's stare. _That's right sweetheart keep walking._

"So," Dean took over the interview. "We heard you say your brother saw a ship, did he tell you what it looked like?"

"It was uh, like the old Yankee clippers. A smuggling ship, angel figuring on the bow, it was the strangest thing. We were night diving and it just showed up out of nowhere."

"You saw it too?" Kayla asked.

The man nodded and Dean glanced to her; not good news. Now they had to save this guy's ass. Behind them, Bella was speaking to the actual police officers and pointing their direction.

"Alright," Dean nodded. "We'll be in touch, thank you." They quickly went back to the car before the cops started asking questions.

Bella came up behind them minutes later, as they were sifting through weapons in the trunk. "I see you got your car back."

Dean grimaced. "You really want to come over here when I got a loaded gun?"

"Now now, mind your blood pressure. What are you still doing here anyway? You've got enough to ID the ship."

"He saw it too, now we gotta save him."

"That is so sweet."

"You think this is funny?"

"He can't be saved in time and you know it."

Dean walked around to the driver's side. "Yeah well we have souls so, we're gonna try."

"Yeah? Well I'm gonna actually find this ship and put a stop to this. So have fun."

He sighed and shut the door again, walking up to her. "Bella, how'd you get like this? Your daddy not give you enough hugs?"

"I don't know, your daddy give you enough?"

"Dean I'll take her out here and now."

Bella scoffed at her. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. You're no better than I am. Hunters do what they do out of vengeance and hatred, I on the other hand get paid to do a job. So what's worse?"

"Why don't you just leave? We've got work to do."

"Yeah, you're down two to nothing, bang up job so far."

God that woman left a foul aftertaste.


	4. Chapter 4

Graveyard shifts were never good. Sam sifted through the research while they staked out the house, waiting for something to happen.

"Well they're both Duke University grads, clean records, they inherited their father's real estate fortune six years ago."

"How much?"

"A hundred and twelve million dollars."

Dean whistled. "Nice life."

"Yeah, but I don't see a reason for them to see the ship. Or the girl before them."

"Hey you!" They all turned to see Peter waving from his gate. "What are you guys doing? You watching me?"

They got out of the car, Sam held a hand up. "Sir, please calm down."

"You're not cops! Not dressed like that, not in that crappy car!"

"Hey."

Kayla smiled. "He didn't mean it."

Sam continued. "Sir we _are_ cops, we're undercover. We're just trying to protect you."

He jogged over to his car and started to pull out of his driveway, until the motor just stopped and the car died.

"That can't be good."

Kayla was the first to scale the gate. Sometimes being smallest had it's advantages. As she got to the car a ghost was sitting in the passenger seat; a man that appeared soaking wet with long scraggly hair. He reached out and touched Peter, who started spitting water out of his mouth.

The doors were locked but she busted out the drivers side window and pulled open the door. Peter fell out onto the ground, water pouring out of his mouth. There was just too much of it. As she tried to help him, Dean stepped in and blasted the thing with rock salt. They knew they were too late.


	5. Chapter 5

The following morning they focused on identifying the ship, as well as the ghost they had seen the night before. So far nothing had come up, there were a whole lot of ghost ships to eliminate. A knock at the door made them all look and Dean went to check it out-Bella. Of course. He opened the door.

She strolled into the house but slowed her pace, looking a little horrified at the run down place. "Dear, God. Are you actually squatting? Charming." She stopped in front of the desk. "So, how'd it go with Peter last night?" The looks pretty much explained it. "That good huh?"

Dean came up behind her. "If you say I told you so, I'll start swinging."

"Look," she stopped him. "I think the three of us should have a heart to heart. I've ID'd the ship."

Dean looked at her, surprised at her sudden generosity.

"It's the Espirito Santo. In 1859 a sailor was accused of treason. He was tried aboard ship in a kangaroo court and hanged. He was thirty seven."

"Which would explain the thirty seven year cycle."

"Aren't you a sharp tack? I have a photo. She pulled it out and handed it across the table."

Kayla immediately recognized the man from last night. "That's our guy."

"You saw him?"

Dean nodded. "Except he was missing a hand."

"His right hand." Bella stated. "They cremated his body but not before cutting off his right hand, to make a hand of glory."

Sam nodded, he was already familiar with the lore. "The right hand of a hanged man is a very powerful occult object."

"So they say." Bella was already interested in its worth.

"It still doesn't explain why the ghost is choosing these victims."

"I know why." Bella shrugged. "Who cares? Find the hand, burn it, and stop the bloody thing."

"I don't get it." Dean looked at her. "Why are you helping us?"

"Because I know where the hand is."

"Where?"

"In the Sea Pines Museum, as a macabre of maritime history. And I'll need some help."

"What kind of help?"

"The museum is hosting a very formal, very elite fundraiser dinner this evening. I of course already have an invitation plus one, because of Ms. Case. Ms. Case has an extra invitation as well, and guess who she's been dying to invite?" She raised an eyebrow towards Sam.

"Ah Jesus."

Dean laughed. "We are so in. We'll um, we'll figure out the details and give you a call in a couple hours alright?"

She gave Kayla a not-so-subtle smirk before walking out the door. Kayla knew exactly where this was headed and she didn't like it one bit. When she looked at Dean, she knew his mind was already there too.

"I'm gonna grab coffee and um," she checked her watch. "Lunch I guess."

Dean nodded, kind of relieved they didn't have to discuss the party at the exact moment. It'd give him time to think. "Alright, bring me some…"

"Pie, yeah. Bring you some pie."

A couple hours later they still hadn't discussed who was going to the party. Kayla was in the bathroom brushing her teeth while Dean tried to think of how he was going to break this idea to her without being slapped. Surely she'd understand, I mean, this was just working a job. She knows he can't stand the woman.

"So here's the thing."

Kayla glanced back at him, listening.

"This party, you heard that Bella has an invite plus guest, Sam was invited because the old woman wants him so we thought it'd probably be best…"

"You." She spit and turned off the think. "You thought it'd be best."

"Well just since…"

He was apparently having issues coming up with the words so she helped him out. "You're going with Bella, under cover as a date right?" She smiled. "I kind of figured that."

"It's not like that."

"It's just work."

"Yeah."

"I know, that's why I made sure I got my own invitation."

He stammered. "What?"

"Yeah, I did my own undercover and um, I have my own date." She went into the other room, trying not to giggle at his facial expression.

"Your own date?"

"Yeah, some local guy here on leave, he's a marine. Met him at the café down the street. You want me to go, right? To work the job?"

"Uh huh." He paused, he didn't like this. "So you're going with him."

"Yeah, you're going with her, Sam's going with Ms. Case, I'm going with him."

"Right." He held up his hand to say something but stopped. "Ok. I gotta go rent a tux so…we'll see you there?"

She nodded and kissed him. "See you there."


	6. Chapter 6

Champagne, caviar, ballroom music and intelligent conversation; this party was definitely more sophisticated than what they were used to. Of course no one would ever know it looking at Kayla, gliding across the dance floor with the freakin' marine. She looked gorgeous. Her hair was pulled back and every time she turned her head or laughed or turned with him as they danced the loose curls brushed against her bare shoulders. He liked her choice with the strapless black gown; of course she probably knew that since he was having trouble keeping his eyes off of her.

"This is killing you isn't it?" Dean hadn't heard her and she laughed. "Dean Winchester."

"Hmm?" He looked at Bella then glanced back to the bartender who was supposed to be getting their champagne.

"Jealousy is absolutely delicious on you."

He smirked and looked back at Kayla with her date. "We talked about that."

"Right, not objectifying."

Sam approached them, looking miserable. "How long do you expect me to entertain my _date_?"

"As long as it takes." Bella smiled wickedly.

"There are limits to what I'll do."

"Ah he's playing hard to get, that's cute." Dean turned and took two champagnes from the bartender, handing one to Bella. "We got work to do. Hey while your date is in the little girls room, break that up." He motioned to the dance floor.

"What do you expect me to do? Beat the crap out of him as a distraction?"

"Of course not." He nodded towards them. "He'd kick your girly ass, he's a marine. But you're supposed to look after her, so do it." They headed into the next room.

Sam sighed quietly; he better not get his ass kicked for this. He went over to them, being careful not to touch anyone just in case. "Mind if I cut in?" Her date immediately looked like he was about to get defensive and Sam quickly stuck his hand out. "Sam, I'm Kayla's brother."

Kayla smiled.

The man eyed him but shook his hand. "Bryston Hudson, are you here for the wedding too?"

"Yeah," he didn't even hesitate to agree with the cover. "This city is full of great parties."

He nodded and touched Kayla's arm. "I'm going to get us something to drink."

Sam held his hand out. "May I?" He slipped a hand across her waist and turned her around, thankful to be away from his own date for a few minutes.

She smiled softly and relaxed for a few moments before speaking her mind. "I don't like this Dean and Bella thing."

"About as much as he likes you and military boy."

"Yeah well military boy isn't stalking us."

"Trust me, he still wants to shoot her."

"Good." She hugged him and straightened his tie. "You look hot by the way, your date's a lucky girl. Grandma, whatever."

"Yeah, thanks for that."

She laughed and nodded towards Ms. Case, who was making their way towards them. "I'm gonna find the bathroom, use protection sweetheart." She pat his cheek and slipped into the next room.

Upstairs, Dean was staring at the inside of a wired alarm. How hard could it be, right? Just like in the movies. He pulled out his wire cutters and slowly separated the wires, being careful not to pull any of them loose. After a brief debate with himself he clipped a wire and watched one of the lights go out. But did it deactivate the alarm? _One way to find out._ He slowly lifted the glass away-no alarm. _Damn right._

The 'Hand of Glory' was officially disgusting. Rotting body parts, what was so glorious about that? He slipped it into his pocket and quietly slipped out of the room. While walking down the hallway, he saw Kayla go into the bathroom on the lower level. He glanced back to the room where Bella was waiting. _Screw it._ Where could he put this ugly thing? He glanced around and set the hand behind a picture frame on the desk in the corner. Safe for now, kind of.

That staggered adrenaline coursed through her as she felt the door being pushed when she opened it. When she saw Dean, the fear portion was replaced by pleasant surprise and she tried to steady her heart rate.

"You scared me."

He'd already seen the desire in her expression and he locked the door with a smirk.

"Aren't you supposed to be with your date?" She tried to sound mad but her hands were already tracing along the lines of his suit.

Dean tucked a stray spiral behind her ear and kissed her. "You look amazing. Don't even try to pretend you're mad at me right now." He kissed her again and pressed her against the nearest wall with a rough intimacy. There really was a time and place for everything; this was neither and both depending on how you looked at it. The job was gonna have to wait.


	7. Chapter 7

Kayla checked her dress in the mirror; everything was back to how it should be. She watched the reflection as Dean came up behind her and kissed her on the shoulder.

"I'm gonna grab the hand and get out of here. Why don't you go rescue Sam from his 'date'?"

She smiled. "Can do." She turned and gave him a lingering kiss, then went back down to the main hall. For a moment she had so watch in amusement; Sam was pretty much being groped by the woman. He glared at her when he caught her smiling and she walked over to them.

"Kayla!" He exclaimed in a relieved breath. "Ms. Case, you remember Kayla."

"Yes of course, how are you dear?"

"A little nauseous unfortunately. The champagne was really good…"

Sam feigned some serious concern. "Are you feeling sick? Do you think you can drive?"

"I should most definitely not drive."

Ms. Case grabbed hold of Sam's arm. "Why don't you call her a cab? She can…"

"Oh, no. I should really make sure she gets back ok. Ms. Case, thank you so much for the invitation. I had a great time."

She smirked and patted him on the butt. "Give me a call sweetheart."

Sam quickly moved with her to the door, he'd had about enough of that. "Thank you. I take it they got the hand?"

"Yep." She felt kind of bad ditching her date without a word, but hey, it was a job after all. "So what's the deal anyway? You totally had the chance to get laid."

"Shut up." He opened the passenger door for her and she got in with a laugh before he slid into the back seat. "Not even funny."

"You're right. It's hilarious, and I'm most likely not gonna let you live it down."

Dean got into the driver's seat. "Well hey guys." He looked back at Sam. "You smell like sex."

He threw his hands up. "Seriously? Let me see this stupid thing I got groped for all night."

"Yeah yeah." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the towel. When he unwrapped it he found a bottle with a model ship in it. "I'm gonna kill her."

"She stole it?!" Kayla snapped at him, more accusatory of Dean than of Bella.

"She's a thief, it's what she does!"

"You knew that _before_ you put the thing in your pocket. How could you let her take it?" A better question was how could he let himself get distracted enough by Bella not to notice?

"It's gone, what the hell do you want me to do about it now?"

Back at the house, Dean was still pissed as hell about it getting stolen, whereas Sam and Kayla had come to terms with it.

"I think we should find out where she is, and torture her slowly." Dean spat.

Kayla agreed, but didn't say anything.

"I can't believe she pulled another one over on us."

"You." Sam corrected him. "She pulled one over on you, not us."

"You're not helping!" He turned towards the knock at the door and they heard Bella's voice.

"Hello, it's me! Open up!"

He looked back at them, completely confused. What the hell? He went and pulled the door open.

"Just let me explain."

"Explain fast."

She walked in and sat down, all business. "I'll be straight with you. I sold the hand, I had a buyer lined up as soon as I discovered it existed."

"So the whole benefit dinner…" Sam asked.

"I needed a cover. You were convenient."

"If you sold it to a buyer, why don't you just go buy it back?"

"It's half way across the ocean, I'll never get it in time."

"In time for what? What's the matter with you Bella, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I saw the ship."

"You what?" Dean tried not to laugh but he did. "You know, I knew you were an immoral, con artist bitch but just when I thought my opinion of you couldn't get any lower…"

"What are you talking about?"

"We figured out the spirit's motive." Sam stated. "He goes after people who have shed their own family's blood. The girl killed her cousin in a car accident, the brothers killed their father, now you."

"Oh my God."

"So who was it Bella? Daddy, maybe a little sis?"

"None of your business."

Kayla was actually enjoying this interrogation.

"Have a nice life Bella, what's left of it anyway." Dean grabbed his jacket and headed for the door, Kayla was right behind him. "Sam let's go."

Bella stood quickly. "You can't just leave me here. Please. I need your help."

"Yeah well, we're just a bunch of serial killers, what do you expect?"

"Ok that was a little harsh but it doesn't warrant a death sentence."

"That's not why you're going to die." Sam stated. "What'd you do Bella?"

"You wouldn't understand. No one did." Off their looks she sighed. "Never mind. I'll deal with this myself, like I always have."

Dean shrugged. "You realize you sold the only thing that could have saved your life."

"I'm aware."

Sam looked at her. She was right, thief or no thief he couldn't just sit back and let her die. "Maybe not the only thing."


	8. Chapter 8

Dean and Kayla were against it. After everything Bella had done, she deserved whatever she got. Unfortunately Sam was all gung ho about this stupid ritual, and since he was in his moody, 'I can't save anyone' phase they felt like they should humor him. The idea was to summon another ghost; specifically the brother who had him hanged in the first place. That's who he really wanted revenge on.

As Sam started reading from the text, the wind picked up and it started pouring. Wonderful. Dean gripped his gun tighter and glanced to Kayla.

"Behind you!" Bella yelled at him.

He turned and saw the ghost; of course it was too late not to be thrown across the cemetery. Damn it.

Kayla stayed back to avoid being thrown and it touched Bella; making her curl over and start spewing out water. That was too much. When it got right down to it she couldn't let someone die right in front of her. She ran to help her, though admittedly there wasn't much she could do.

Sam kept reading and they got what they wanted; the second ghost appeared.

"You. You hanged me." He shot at his brother.

"I'm so sorry."

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Brother versus brother and they literally collided into each other like water. It was still for a moment and they disintegrated into thousands of drops into the rain.

Kayla looked down and Bella was gasping, but no longer heaving water. "Are you ok?"

She took a breath and looked up, nodding slightly.

"Good. If I have to kill you later, I still will." She held a hand out and helped her off the ground.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."


	9. Chapter 9

"Wait I'm not ready!" Kayla jerked her leg up to her chest.

Dean laughed. "Seriously? You've taken worse sweetheart it's not gonna hurt."

"Are you sure?"

He pulled his shirt back and showed her the bandage on his chest. "We just did it!"

She had watched both Sam and Dean get the symbols tattooed on their chests. Neither one of them so much as flinched during the process, much less complained about it hurting. Kayla had opted for the small symbol to be placed on the inside of her ankle (a decision Dean told her was very girly of her) but the needle was less than appealing.

The tattoo artist was sitting patiently at the end of the table, waiting for her to put her leg back out. He had both the others and had gotten the symbol perfectly, there was no room for variations.

Kayla slowly slid her leg back out and turned her ankle down. The guy looked at her and she nodded, still nervous. "Alright I'm ready." When the needle started whirring she held still as it started contact with her skin, her mouth dropped open. "You said it wasn't going to hurt!"

"Of course it's going to hurt, you put it on the inside of your ankle. There's nothing but bone there! You can squeeze my…damn!"

She grasped down on his hand; it hurt but he was right, she'd felt worse.

Dean smirked and watched the symbol take shape. Demonic possession-check. Just one less thing to worry about when he was gone.


End file.
